Castaways
by NeverGoesToSleep
Summary: After everyone swam away from the volcano, Chris saved them all...right? Now complete! C:
1. The Dark Figure

***Well helllllo there! I started writing this today just for the heck of it, thinking it would just end up being one of my many archived stories that I don't post, but then I finished this and actually liked it. So, we'll see how people like the first chapter, or introduction if you will, and then maybe I'll finish the story up. I have a plot figure out and everything-sort of.***

Leaves rustles on a sandy shore. Palm trees rattled in the wind. A light breeze blew by. The sea roared, the waves coming up higher and higher until it spit out a teal-haired girl, followed closely by two boys. The teal-haired girl, Gwen, coughed heavily.

"Where are we?" She choked out between coughs.

"We could be anywhere." Responded Duncan as he stood and wrung out the hem of his shirt. He was followed closely by Trent, who furrowed his brow at the delinquent.

"How could we be anywhere? We're obviously on an island!"

"I _meant_," Duncan began, scoffing, "That we've been swimming around the ocean for _days_. We could be anywhere!" It was true. The three teenagers had drifted around in the ocean for approximately four days, sleeping on large bouys at night and eating soggy energy bars and bags of chips Duncan snagged from their hotel in Hawaii. ("Felonies have their advantages!" He'd say while they were eating.) They had got caught in a storm earlier in the day, and gave up to being thrown around in the waves until the ocean spit them out on this unknown shore.

"Guys!" Gwen called out from her seat in the sand. She was attempting to slice through the tension creeping around Duncan and Trent. Their heads snapped up at the same time to look at her.

"What?" They asked at the some time, but in different tones. Trent's tone of voice was smooth, more nonchalant. Duncan's tone was aggressive, as always.

"Arguing isn't going to help. We might as well start exlporing." Then she added quietly, "There's got to be _some _civilization around here." A flurry of "sure!"'s, "cool!"'s, and "fine with me."'s came from the boys as they Gwen got up and dusted sand off her drippingwet clothes. She surveyed the area thoroughly before spotting a thick row of trees lining the sand. "That's probably our best bet." She said, pointing to a slight gap between trees.

"Totally." Trent agreed, following Gwen. Duncan shrugged a minute or so later and followed.

* * *

Twigs snapped and leaves crumbled underneath their feet as the trio stomped through the thick underbrush of the forest until they reached a small clearing.

"Okay, we should probably stop here and sleep." Gwen said, obseving the sun starting to dip below the trees.

"I'll go find us some firewood." Trent offered after soaking in the appearance of their resting spot.

"I better go with him before he only comes back with nine pieces." Duncan said after the other boy disappeared into the trees.

"I heard that!" Trent's voice yelled faintly. Duncan rolled his eyes before disappearing behind the trees as well. Gwen sighed before examining the clearing. There was a large log running about half the length of the barely-there babbling stream running the length of the clearing. Over to the side of the log was a large black circle in the dirt, it's interior riddled with fragile, ashy twigs and bits of burnt paper. A firepit. Gwen went over to examine it and stayed there to study it until Trent and Duncan returned with the firewood.

"You build that?" Duncan questioned, handing her the last energy bar. Gwen shook her head.

"No. It was already there. That's got to be a good sign." She said optimistically.

"Okay!" Trent called over to them as he tossed the last small branch onto the pile. "It's ready, we just have to figure out how to light it." While Trent stood there, running his thumb across his chin in thought, Duncan got mischevious. He smirked and whipped out his lighter, dull and gray from the abuse of the sea.

"It isn't going to work." Gwen whispered. "It's probably waterlogged!"

"I dried it out in the sun." Duncan shrugged. In one quick motion, he had sunk down to the ground and placed a tiny orange flame on a stick from the pile. The fire trailed down the length of the branch and then the next one until it had enveloped all the branches in a yellow-orange fire. Duncan smiled satisfactorily at his creation while Trent glared at it.

"What'd you do that for?" He asked defensively. "The stupid lighter's going to run out of fluid eventually. Then what are we going to do?" Trent practically screeched, his still damp bangs dribbling with water.

"The lighter's full." Duncan shrugged, shoving it back in his pocket and planting himself on the ground. "And I don't think we plan on being here that long." A low growl tumbled out of Trent's mouth as he slumped down onto the ground. As soon as the sun was fully replaced by the moon, the three teens fell asleep.

* * *

Gwen's eyes, still heavy with fatigue, snapped open in the darkness. A loud sound had disturbed her sleep, and she looked around the area using what little light the waning fire was still emitting and found Duncan and Trent had also awoken and were both rubbing at their eyes.

"What was that?" Duncan mumbled wearily.

"You guys heard it too?" Gwen whispered. Before either of them could answer, a low, sinister growl did so for them. Gwen raised an eyebrow while the boys each acquired weapons; Duncan with his knife and Trent with a rugged, beat-up piece of driftwood. The three of them stood up at the same time, silmultaneously shaking their clothes free of sand and dirt. The two boys located the source of the noise as being near to the large log Gwen had been resting on and crept up to the bushes. Looking frantically at their tiptoeing forms, Gwen picked up a sturdy branch and proceeded to follow. Not even two steps later. Duncan gripped her shoulder and spun her back in the direction of their "camp." "What?" Gwen whispered fiercely.

"Get back there." He ordered quietly, but forcefully.

"Why?" She asked, her brow furrowed.

"'Cause, if you get eaten by some island-monster-ape-thing, it'd really ruin my day!" He said with a humorless laugh on his lips. She scoffed and folded her arms over her chest.

"Fine, but don't get eaten either!" Only after Duncan began to jog after Trent did she add "And don't let Trent get hurt either!" Gwen gradually sauntered back over to the log and plopped down on it, her foot tapping impatiently on the ground as she awaited their return. She heard rustling far away and began to feel uneasy imagining what kind of horrible, evil, vicious creature the guys were attacking-or being attacked by. Gwen shook her head vigorously, so as to scare away the mental image. It was only after that that she noticed the rustling wasn't so far away anymore. It was getting nearer and nearer to her. "Duncan!" She tried, "this isn't funny, just come out an-" Her voice cut out in her throat, and was replaced with a scream as a dark figure leapt from the bushes.

***Yup, that's the first chapter. I'm so evil with cliffhangers xD But anyways, please review because I'm eager to hear your thoughts!***


	2. Confessions

***Hey! Well, first of all THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the reviews. I honestly wasn't expecting the amazing feedback from you guys, so it was great to get that. Anyways, I was reluctant to post this chapter. I re-wrote this about two or three times because I have no idea what's happening really, my fingers get minds of their own sometimes. Anyway, I did work hard on this chapter, so I hope you like it and that you review!***

Gwen froze, unable to do anything, not even scream as the figure (or maybe even _figures _by the looks of it) writhed and grunted on the ground. Finally, her instincts kicked in and she picked up a long piece of driftwood, intending to use it as a club, but as the figure's movements on the ground became more spastic, she lost all thought again and finally chucked the wood. It collided with the silhouette with a loud thud, and after that more grunts were heard mixed in with loud cursing.

"Duncan?" Gwen asked through the darkness. There was only one person on the entire planet with that much of a..._colorful _vocabulary. There was a strained grunt.

"Gwen?" Duncan's voice piped out. "Man, you have an arm!" He complained. Not responding to his compliment, Gwen grabbed another piece of driftwood but this time stuck the top of it into the middle of the firepit, the only place that the fire was still living. when the large piece of wood was lit up, the entire scene unraveled. Duncan was standing there, new bits of dirt and leaves staining his long-sleeved shirt, with an unknown person in a headlock. Whoever it was appeared to be knocked out, or getting there soon enough.

"Who's that? Where's Trent?" Duncan sighed, his grip on the man(?)'s arm loosening.

"Elvis was pretty sure there were two guys so he went the other way. Guess he hasn't come back yet." He observed. A strangled croak broke the silence and it didn't take long to figure out it came from their captive. he began coughing and lifted his head up.

_"Harold?"_ Sure enough, it was Harold in Duncan's arms, coughing and choking on what could only be his own saliva.

"Huh, no wonder I took him down so fast." Duncan gloated smugly. Harold hacked one more time before regaining the use of his legs and standing up, simultaneously pulling himself from Duncan's arms.

"I was searching in the forest for reeds and other vegetation to create a raft for transportation off this island." Harold explained.

"How'd you get here anyway?" Duncan asked, holding his knife close to Gwen's torch to clean it off.

"LeShawna and I were following you guys the whole way until that storm this morning." He answered.

"Wait," Gwen began, "LeShawna?" She raised a brow at the redhead. Before anyone could say anything else, two other dark figures emerged from the bushes, one of them yelling loudly.

"Ooh, I know you did not just poke LeShawna with that tiny hunk of wood!" The voice screamed. It wasn't hard to put a name to the voice, but LeShawna stepped into the light anyway, followed closely by an exasperated Trent. His eyes were the size of saucers and he was panting heavily.

"LeShawna?" He gasped. She turned to look at him and softened immediately.

"Trent!" She enveloped him in his arms tightly and Trent choked a bit. "It's good to see you, Baby!" Gwen noticed Trent's distress and acted accordingly.

"Uh! LeShawna! We're here too!" She said in her nervous voice. LeShawna smiled and dropped Trent into a crumpled heap on the ground and squeezed Gwen tightly. "H-h-hi, LeShawna!" She croaked in a half-hearted greeting.

"Hi, Honey! I missed you!" The other girl yelled happily. Duncan scoffed, unimpressed nearby.

"You sure seem peppy for someone who washed up on some stupid island in the middle of the night. LeShawna released Gwen from her grasp and scowled deeply at the delinquent.

"Don't test me, boy!" She warned.

"Alright, we're all well-acquainted. Can we go back to sleep now?" Trent begged, his breathing shallow.

"I could use some shuteye."

"I'm tired."

"Sleep will definitely be necessary if we plan on getting anything done tomorrow.

"Whatever."

With that mutual agreement, Gwen tossed the glowing torch into the small stream and returned to her resting place. It didn't take long for the other teens to follow.

* * *

The blazing sun assaulted Gwen's eyes, waking her immediately. She groaned, peeling herself off the log she was laying on and examined the morning. A light breeze was wafting through the air, slanting the now large fire the tiniest bit. Trent, LeShawna, Harold, and Duncan were seated on the other side of the fire talking amongst themselves. Gwen got up but sat down again soon enough when she took the end spot next to Duncan, who immediately handed her an energy bar.

"I thought we ran out of these." She said as she unwrapped the bar.

"We did, but I must've taught the dweeb a thing or two." Duncan said with his head gesturing towards Harold.

"I have a whole backpack full of them!" He exclaimed, holding up a raggedy old canvas backpack. "I found the backpack while I was exploring early this morning."

"At least that's another sign of life." Trent shrugged.

"Find anything else?" LeShawna asked, obviously not expecting him to reveal a small pile of objects.

"Wow!" The others choroused. They jumped up to inspect the pile. There was nothing grand or extravagant to behold, but there was a considerable amount of rusted, but still somewhat useable tools, a few pots and pans, and enough water bottles for each to have one. (Plus a few!) As they packed the items away in Harold's backpack, they devised a plan for the day.

"Should we keep going straight?" Gwen asked unsurely as she stood behind Duncan. The Goth had set to work on straightening out his mohawk. (After all, it just looked downright silly drooping to the side like that!)

"Well, there's definitely nothing for us on the beach." LeShawna reasoned.

"And if this island is as large as I calculate it to be, we'll just hit more water if we go east or west." Harold said.

"So it's settled on north?" Gwen asked. Everyone else nodded and Gwen scooped up all the empty water bottles. "I'll go fill these." She looked up at the blazing sun, "It looks like we may need them." The rest of the group nodded at her again and she walked over to the small stream, plopped down calmly, and began to fill the bottles. It wasn't long until she heard footsteps coming her way, and Trent was soon stooping down beside her.

"Hey." He greeted with a casual grin. He grabbed an empty old _Aquafina_ bottle from the pile and quickly filled it with water from the stream. "I thought you may need help. There's a lot of bottles." He smiled. Gwen smiled back a little.

"Thanks, but it's really not that much, you can go back and eat if you want." She said, staring down at the flowing water as it filled the bottle she was holding to it.

"I finished." He said simply. "And besides, I think we should hang out more." Again she gave him a small smile and went back to work. It was silent until they got down to the last couple of bottles. "So," He began slowly, "Are you and Duncan..." He didn't finish, but he really didn't need to. Gwen knew what Trent was wondering.

"Yes." She sighed heavily, but she quickly added "No?" A beat later and she had finally decided on "Sort of."

"So...not really?" He tried.

"We aren't...in a relationship. Not really." Gwen tried to explain. She knew that wasn't the right way to explain it, but sometimes it seemed as if her and Duncan's...whatever they had only made sense to them. No, they weren't quite boyfriend/girlfriend, they were more like best-friends-who-like-each-other-and-occasionally-kiss. Wait, what? Gwen shook her head a little as if it would clear the confusion. She looked up at Trent, who seemed sort of relieved. Before she even knew what she was saying, she asked "Why?" Trent looked anywhere but at Gwen and cleared his throat. His eyes looked glassy, as if he were about to cry, when he turned back to Gwen.

"I think we should be together again." He whispered, although the others were too far away to hear what they were saying. Gwen's eyes widened and she lifted her brows in surprise.

"What?" She screeched quietly. She was honestly expecting him to say anything, _anything_ but that!

"Yeah." He said, seemingly gaining more confidence as he spoke. "We're not in competition anymore and we're never going to be. Our relationship can be a whole lot better than it was." He tried to persuade. Gwen just sat there, her mind completely blank. She was really wondering if he was serious. After a (very awkward) while, Trent spoke up. "Are you going to say anything?" She gulped and tried to form a sentence. At this point, she'd let anything fall from her lips as long as it wasn't yes!

"Trent...I don't...know, um...Duncan. He's, he's um, we sort of..." Looking around, she gave into her impulses and grabbed a few of the bottles before standing and turning to go.

"I'm going to fight him for you." Trent said, causing Gwen to freeze. "I'm going to. I love you." Feeling tears prickling in the back of her head, she turned and sprinted back to the fire so fast that she ran right into Duncan's back.

"Whoa." he said, steadying the bottles in her arm as well as taking a few. "You okay?" He asked, concerned. She took a deep breath and felt the threat of tears dissolve.

"Yeah. Everything's fine."

"You sure?" He asked. His gaze shifted from bored to menacing as he glanced over at Trent. Gwen refused to look at what Trent looked like.

"Uh..." She hesitated for a moment. Duncan could read her like a book. Would he know that she was lying? Then again, she also knew that Duncan was tired, as he rarely woke up before noon...or three P.M., so she took her chances. "Yeah, I'm good."

"Alright, let's go, guys." He said to LeShawna and Harold, who both shrugged. Harold picked up his full backpack and threw it on his back excitedly while LeShawna shook her head at him and linked arms with Gwen.

"Don't let me trip over any roots or anything!" she ordered. Gwen nodded numbly and they soon took off.

* * *

The five walked in a sort of line through the thick shrubbery. The island and all-around beachy feel was long gone and the teens felt as if they were in the middle of the Amazon. It was a rainforest in every sense of the word. (Except, there wasn't any rain, so it wasn't really a rainforest at all.) Gwen noticed she and LeShawna had fallen behind a bit and tried to walk faster when a firm arm pulled her back.

"You 'gonna tell me what's wrong?" LeShawna asked. Apparently she could read Gwen like a book, too. Gwen sighed.

"While Trent and I were filling up the water bottles," She sighed and looked around at the trees, "He said he wanted us to be together again." She said quietly. The other girls' eyes widened.

"He did not!" She exclaimed.

"Quiet! And yes, he did." Gwen confirmed almost mournfully.

"Did you say yes?"

"No!" She whisper-yelled in reply. "But I still don't know what I'm going to do." She said. They stood there with locked eyes until LeShawna patted the side of her shoulder.

"Okay, Girl. Just don't get yourself hurt. I won't tell anyone." She promised. They shared a smile and a quick hug before catching up with the others.

* * *

They stopped an hour or so later when they came across a gargantuan-sized rock leaning slanted on a bunch of others. Gwen sat on the top of it, her legs hanging off the ledge and swinging with her energy bar in hand and her water bottle sitting next to her. She heard footsteps climbing towards her again and prayed that it wasn't Trent. She smiled a bit when Duncan appeared next to her.

"Hey." He greeted, crumbling up the empty wrapper in his hands ant tossing it at Harold's head. He cried out and the two shared a giggle. "You alright?" He suddenly asked again, though this time his voice held more skepticism.

"I told you, I'm fine, just tired I guess." She lied. Duncan raised a brow at her. ("That's hot." Gwen thought.)

"You sure about that? You seem..." He looked up as he thought. "Sketchy."

"Sketchy?" She repeated with her own bit of skepticism.

"Yeah. You know, weird?" Gwen facepalmed.

"Sketchy means hazy, Duncan." She informed him with the slightest bit of playfulness in her eyes.

"Whatever." He shrugged. "You just don't seem so alright."

"Guess it's just...one of those things I guess." She shrugged and even added a laugh for the effort.

"Guys!" Trent called from the ground. "We're ready to go!" Gwen hopped off the log effortlessly, but staggered a bit when she reached the ground. She felt warm hands on her arms and they steadied her gently. "You okay?" Trent asked. Gwen snapped out of...it and nodded, ripping her hands away from him. She felt a rush of air smack her back and knew Duncan had hopped off the rock as well.

"Everything okay?" He questioned, his eyes immediately wandering over to the other boy.

"Fine." Trent responded coldly. They glared at each other before one of them broke it (it was too hard to tell who) and went to lead the group again.

* * *

The sun was starting to lose some of its intensity and the group knew it would be dark soon. They stopped at the base of a cliff, resolving that the game plan tomorrow would be to climb it. They sat around a bonfire they had created, eating their food and chatting about anything from how long it would be until they reached civilization to how (not-so) shocking Alejandro kissing Heather was. After they had finished, it was considerably darker out and everyone decided sleep was the best option for them. They were sharing goodnight hugs and in Harold and LeShawna's case almost-kisses when Trent strode over to Gwen.

"'Night, Gwen." He said casually. Gwen's smile got bigger (and harder to fake.)

"Goodnight, Trent." She said uncomfortably. She was praying that he wouldn't open his arms for a hug, but there he was, arms wide open. She sighed and gave him an obligatory hug. When he finally let go, Gwen tried to run off somewhere secluded to have a good cry, but was stopped when she felt herself in Trent's arms again...kissing him? No, no, he was kissing her, she could tell by the way it felt, but it nonetheless felt wrong. She pulled away and was almost angry at Trent's confused expression.

"What was that?" She whispered, her soft voice cracking. Tears were going to start spilling any second and she knew it.

"I-I'm sorry! I just love you, Gwen..." He tried, but Gwen wouldn't look at him. She was looking for Duncan, half expecting him to have already tackled Trent, but he was sitting on an open spot on the grass with a relaxed pose and (thankfully) his eyes shut. Gwen bared her teeth and pointed to him.

"You're lucky he didn't see that!"

"Gwen-"

"Save it. Goodnight." She deadpanned, her voice thick with frustration. She stormed away angrily and walked behind a large tree to wipe the tears from her face. After letting free the sobs a few moments more, she wiped her face completely until it was dry. Emerging from the tree, she walked right over to where Duncan was lying and laid her head on his chest. She felt one of his hands immediately make its way to her hair and relished in the tingly feeling she got when he picked up and dropped her hair like that.

"What's the matter, Pasty?" He grumbled. He was obviously half asleep. It kind of made Gwen wonder how he even knew it was her. She wrapped her arm over front of his shoulder.

"Nothing, just don't go anywhere." She whispered miserably.

"'Kay."

***Intense, right? So, I hope you liked this chapter, and I know you're all going to review because you love me that much xD Noooo, but please review if you have a minute. You have no idea how much I appreciate it!***


	3. Back And Forth

***okay, let me just say I had the absolute WORST time writing this chapter, and I don't really like how it came out. But thank you for all your reviews, and I was wondering why there's been such a lack of DxG stories lately...just busy writers, I guess. Oh well, enjoy and review if you could please.***

"Guys! Guys!" Was what Gwen heard as she slowly began to regain consciousness. She struggled to open her eyes fully, but when she did she had realized someone was calling for her. Wearily looking around, she saw Trent crouched down in front of the pair of them and sighed. (Duncan was still sleeping peacefully next to her.)

"What time is it?" She croaked. She rubbed at her face to remove any dirt marks or runny make-up stains and looked around. She was still bleary-eyed from her slumber, but she noticed their fire crackling brightly and with life nearby.

"Judging by the position of the sun, it's about nine AM." Harold's scratchy voice called over to them. He had obviously overheard. Gwen groaned as the sun began to beat down on her relentlessly and slammed her head down, forgetting it would collide with Duncan's shoulder. She heard him hiss and saw his eyes shoot open.

"Good morning to you, too." He greeted sarcastically, rubbing the spot she hit. She gave him a small smile and stood up to go to the campfire. It crackled furiously in the wind as she plopped down next to LeShawna, who handed her an energy bar.

"I'm getting sick of these." She whispered to herself, though LeShawna must've heard her.

"Harold's going to go out and look for some coconuts or something when we stop for the night. Ain't that right, Baby?" LeShawna looked over to the scrawny boy, who gave her a big, cheesy grin and nodded.

"Anything for you, fair LeShawna." She grinned at him and turned back to Gwen.

"Sorry for leaving you alone with Trent last night." She apologized to the other girl in a whisper. "Everything was fine though, right?" Gwen nodded. She wasn't going to say anything about the kiss, especially to LeShawna. Gwen loved her friend and trusted her just fine, but she feared that LeShawna would be unable to keep something this scandalous to herself. Everybody was finished soon and moved to the rock wall that was standing in their way of possible rescue.

"Do you think we need a rope?" Trent asked after a while. He was studying it with slitted eyes while his head was cocked to the side.

"Nah." Duncan responded, wiping his hands on his jeans. "We could just climb it." Before anyone could object, Duncan lunged himself at the rock wall, attaching himself to it a foot or so above everyone's heads.

"You're crazy!" Trent yelled, his eyes now slitted with annoyance rather than confusion. "We could fall at any moment!"

"Please." He responded in an unamused tone. "I've scaled up and down the walls of the Toronto Juvenile Detention Center more times than I'll ever admit to. I think I can handle a stupid cliff." And with that, he continued to tame the seemingly daunting rocks with ease. Harold screeched something about geology before throwing on his backpack and climbing up after Duncan, surprisingly with much agility.

"I'm coming, Harold Baby!" LeShawna screamed. With a head start, she was soon scaling up the wall easily.

"I guess I'll go up." Gwen sighed quietly.

"Do you want me to-t" Trent stammered. She soured up and glared at him.

"You've done enough." She informed him bitterly. Gwen had a little trouble finding something to grab onto, but once she did she found herself climbing easily. While she was making her third advance she heard Trent latch onto the wall some distance below her.

"Will you talk to me?" He asked her, his voice holding the slightest bit of annoyance. "I didn't do anything that wrong!" Gwen scowled immediately and whipped her head around to face him.

"Are you kidding me? You kissed me while I have..." She searched her mind frantically for the perfect word. "something going on with someone else!" Gwen whisper-yelled, her anger at the guitarist unmasked. He frowned while he climbed.

"So? You're calling it a something! It's not even a relationship, you told me!" He argued. She scoffed. He just wasn't getting it.

"Yeah, but we're kind of exclusive to each other, Trent! He's not going around kissing other girls and expecting me to have no problem with it!" Gwen shot back in an agitated whisper.

"How do you know?" He questioned below her. Her mouth hung open, shocked that he would stoop so low. She felt her stomach sink to her feet and tears prickle the back of her eyes at the thought of Duncan even doing such a thing. In an attempt to regain composure, she blinked quickly and scoffed shakily, making sure to kick pebbles and dirt in Trent's face as she advanced.

* * *

The group made it up the wall in good time, having only spent thirty or forty-five minutes climbing. Unfortunately, it appeared to be thirty or forty-five minutes wasted, as the area turned out to be only a yard or so big and empty at that. They climbed back down halfway before simply hopping off and beginning to walk straight again. The morning was uneventful but tiresome, so they had decided to take a longer break than usual at a small clearing they had stopped at for lunch. Gwen ate her bar in solitude, mulling over her own contradictory thoughts. Her eyes would wander to her fellow castaways every now and again, erupting different thoughts each time.

Her eyes focused in on Trent and her first instinct was to scowl. What he had done last night was horrible, she was sure of it! But still, her mind couldn't help but mull over his offer at a relationship. He was right that they wouldn't be in competition anymore; maintaining their happiness with one another would be a lot easier. Lately she couldn't help but think about what made her like him in the first place, too. Like how he was smart but not a total brainiac, how his enchanting words played out softly by the plucks of a guitar string, the smooth green of his round eyes. the mysterious aura he drowned her in when he looked up her through shaggy black bangs...she shook her head to clear her mind. She had to remember what he did. _Had to remember._ She watched him for a minute longer as a small bit of granola smacked the side of his head. He picked it up and growled at a laughing Duncan.

Her eyes stayed glued on Duncan for a moment. He's the reason she's so confused, right? If he wasn't here, she would be happy with Trent. But him not being here...her heart dropped. How much could she bear and have bared if he wasn't here? Some days on that stupid plane the only thing that kept her going was the prospect of seeing Duncan on the Aftermath show or even seeing him in person (which she had never expected to actually come true, but...). And for another thing, he was _hot._Anyone would be attracted to him; what with his amazing sense of humor, I-don't-care attitude, teal eyes gleaming with danger, the green mohawk! She was obviously losing herself again.

Suddenly, she heard Harold cry out and looked over him just in time to see him dart into a nearby cave. The others around him glanced curiously in that direction before doing the exact same thing. Gwen stood up unsurely, hesitantly tilting her head to look. Then, she saw it.

_A bear._

It was standing there, staring right at Gwen. Her breath caught in her throat and she backed away as fast as she could, inevitably backing into the same cave the other three had ventured into.

"W-was that a bear?" Gwen stammered nervously.

"Yes. More specifically, an Ursus arc-" Harold was cut off by Duncan aggressively clamping a hand over his mouth.

"No one cares, Dweeb." He informed him. With his hand still on Harold's mouth, he looked at the other three. "Anyone know how to get that thing away from us?" LeShawna gulped and held up Harold's raggedy backpack.

"We could give him the backpack." She suggested.

"What about all the food?" Gwen asked, pointing to the small stash of energy bars poking out of the top. "Maybe we could scare it away?"

"How?" Trent wondered aloud.

"Maybe a loud noise?" Duncan suggested. Harold began to gab under Duncan's hand again, to which the delinquent only tightened his grip. The other three thought over his idea for a moment.

"I guess it'd work." LeShawna replied. "But how're we 'gonna make a loud noise?" Again, the thought.

"What if we smash something against these rocks?" Trent proposed as he rubbed a hand against the side of the cave. Suddenly, Gwen's eyes lit up with an idea.

"Duncan! Give me your dog collar." Duncan looked at her as if she had grown another head.

"I don't think so sister!" He answered with a humorless laugh. His free hand was clamped protectively over his choker. "It took three days of quality dumpster diving to find this!"

"Seriously?" Trent yelled. "We could die!"

"If I'm going down, I'm going down with my dog collar!" Harold yelled again underneath Duncan's palm and soon everyone was yelling.

"Hey!" LeShawna yelled a few minutes later. "SHUT UP!" Everyone's jaws snapped shut immediately and their eyes turned to the girl. "Why don't we just make a run for it?" The five shared glances of agreement before peeking out of the cave. The bear was turned away from them, though the group could still hear its low, sinister growl just begging to eat them for lunch.

"Well, if we're gonna do this..." Duncan sighed. In one swift motion, he had slung Harold over his shoulder and dashed out of the cave, not stopping until he was (much to Gwen's relief,) a safe distance from the grizzly brown beast. Gwen gulped and looked at the other remaining two before nodding and doing the same thing as Duncan, though with her eyes squeezed shut in terror. She was panting heavily by the time she reached Duncan and Harold.

"You alright?" Duncan gasped for breath.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She responded. They stood there together with Harold rested and wheezing against a tree while they watched Trent and LeShawna debate over who went next.

"He kissed you, didn't he?" Duncan finally asked. Gwen's heart stopped.

"How did you know that?" She wondered sheepishly.

"I read you like a book, Sweetheart. You've been acting nutty all day, and Trent's been going gaga over you whenever you weren't looking at him, so...I kind of just put two and two together." He explained. Gwen was a little happy, yet also a bit suspicious over his cocky tone. It was unsettling to say the least. "You know, I have half a mind to bash his head into his skull." He informed her calmly.

"I thought you would." She sighed in response. He was quiet and Gwen began to wonder aloud. "Are you going to?"

"Do you want me to?" He shot back. "'Cause if you want to be with him or whatever I won't mess with-" Gwen knew the second she had done it it was a mistake, but she just wanted him to stop talking, to stop insinuating something might happen between her and Trent. It was when she actually started to enjoy the feeling of his lips on hers again that she realized that this was what she wanted; she wanted Duncan to start rambling on some nonsense no one cared about then stop him in the middle of it by planting one on his lips. It felt right, good even.

"Uh, what's going on here?" Trent's confused voice snapped Gwen out of it and she pulled herself from Duncan's embrace, her cheeks ablaze.

"N-nothing." She lied, suddenly taking interest in a shredded blade of grass beneath her feet.

"Mhm." LeShawna hummed, obviously not convinced.

"Is everyone okay?" Gwen changed to subject. "Good, then, let's go!"

* * *

Weary from their encounter with the bear, the teens stopped for the night after only a few minutes more of walking. It would still be light out for a couple hours so the five were hanging out around their bonfire, simply enjoying each other's company, all except for Gwen. She had wandered a yard or so from their camp, planting herself on a tree stump deep in thought.

"You planning on telling me what that was back by the cave?" A voice awokened her from her stupor and she smiled a bit as Duncan plopped himself in the grass diagonal from her. "Not that it wasn't incredibly hot, but it was sort of random." Gwen felt her cheeks darken and she quickly covered them with her palms, resting them on either side of her face.

"Sorry, I just, don't need to hear about how everyone's okay with me doing what I want! Ugh, I just wish someone would give me a more biased opinion! Maybe then I'd have some _actual_ advice to help me figure this out!" She ranted until she was out of breath, adding a frustrated grunt at the end for emphasis.

"Whoa, don't go psycho on me! I could be biased and say I'd way rather have you doing inappropriate things in the forest with me but then you'd hit me." Was Duncan's reply, to which Gwen gave him a good smack on the arm. "See! like that!" He complained, but he was laughing. It took a minute, but their laughter soon died.

"Seriously, Babe, do what you want, I won't stop you." He admitted with outstretched hands as he walked back to the campfire. Gwen let out a puff of air and watched as her bangs danced in it.

"What if you _are_what I want?" She mumbled to herself. Then, looking around another moment, she added, "but what if you're not?" That was met with a facepalm and groan as she lay down to get some sleep, or at least try.

***Like I said, don't have much to say...I'm not satisfied with ittt! D: But could you all please review anyway? Even if it's just one word, I'll love you forever for it.***


	4. The Rescue

***Um, so I wasn't actually expecting this, but this is sort of the last chapter...whoa. I was planning on at least one more chapter, but then I liked the way this ended, so, I guess enjoy?***

Gwen woke up, groggy again and rubbed her head. Brushing the dirt and leaves off her skirt, she located the fire a few feet away, LeShawna being the only attendant. She walked over.

"Hey, Girl. Sleep well?" LeShawna greeted her. Gwen smiled weakly.

"Well enough." She responded, then added, "Where are the guys?" LeShawna laughed a bit and pointed behind her back with her thumb.

"The three of them thought they'd go all macho-man and look for some more food so we don't have to keep eating these boring energy bars." She said, making a face as Gwen pulled two out of the ruddy backpack.

"At least they're keeping us alive." The Goth countered, shrugging before tossing one to her friend. She made another face, but unwrapped it anyways as Gwen did the same. The two ate in silence, the only sounds being the rustles of trees and bushes in the breeze and the occasional cry of a cicada. "How long have they been out there? You think they're okay?" Gwen asked suddenly, eliciting a suspicious eyebrow raise from her friend.

"Yeah, but why are you so worried?" Gwen sighed, knowing LeShawna would find out sooner or later. (She was just that good!)

"Okay, so Trent kissed me the other day, and Duncan just knew!" Gwen whisper-yelled, her voice cracking in nervousness. LeShawna's eyes widened.

"Really?" She gasped.

"Yeah, and Duncan said that if I wanted to go with Trent that I should, but..."

"You still got a thing for Danger Boy?" She guessed correctly, and Gwen nodded.

"I don't know. He was just really cool about everything, and for some reason that makes me swoon even more!" Gwen was frustrated, She wasn't appreciative of her emotions and ever-changing mind right now. "What would you do?" She suddenly asked. (Right now Gwen would take any advice she could get!) She watched as LeShawna tossed the now empty wrapper into the flames, and they stared as it blackened and shrunk until it was nothing but a few shreds of paper.

"I don't know, Girl. Trent's sweet, but Duncan ain't going to go crazy on you."

"That's because he's already insane." Gwen said inaudibly under her breath. She laughed at her witty remark. Inwardly. Her insides sobered up when she turned to LeShawna, who continued.

"But Tren't isn't going to end up in juvie on you."

"Good point." Gwen moaned. She groaned in frustration and slammed her head into her kneecaps. "Why is this so frustrating?" Instead of responding, LeShawna massaged one of Gwen's shoulder soothingly. Suddenly, one of the boys in question popped out from the forest nearby, panting heavily.

"Duncan? What's the matter? Find a wild C.I.T. in those woods?" LeShawna smirked and let out a giggle as Gwen stifled a laugh.

"What?" Duncan wheezed, clutching his chest and kneeling a bit. "No, but...found...cabin...doors unlocked...let's go..." The girls managed to decipher little of Duncan's labored speaking, but what they did hear piqued their interests sufficiently. The two set to work gathering their stuff and extinguishing the fire as Duncan slung the backpack with their food and water bottles in it over one of his shoulders. His breathing was starting to regulate again, and Gwen was glad about that, as she was worried the second she heard how heavily he was gasping. (Duncan rarely gets winded, so when he does you know he's run a lot.) Once they were ready, they began to trek through the forest on the path Duncan had marked with notches in bark of the trees.

"So explain what happened again." LeShawna urged as she pushed a branch away from their path. Duncan did the same with a branch farther ahead, breathed, deeply, then began to explain.

"Harold, Trent, and I were walking around in the forest looking for some more food when the dweeb-" LeShawna smacked the back of his head. "Ow! Hey!" They shot each other hard glances before Gwen cleared her throat, reminding them both of the story. "R-right. Anyway, Doris was gonna find some fuzzy caterpillar or something when he tripped over a rock and ended up ramming into the wall of an old cabin." Gwen and LeShawna's lit up.

"A cabin?" Gwen gasped.

"With beds?" LeShawna added.

"And sunscreen?" Gwen then wondered aloud, noticing her skin was starting to get a painful pinkish tint.

"And showers?" LeShawna then asked as she used the squirt-cap of her water bottle to hose down her armpits.

"Whoa, whoa, slow your roll, kids. We didn't even go in yet." Duncan told them.

"Why?"

"Well, Harold's pretty sure some one..._s_ are living in it. He and Trent are scoping out the area as we speak. I was sent to get you guys." The delinquent explained, "Apparently I can't work with either because I may be the cause of their immediate deaths or something."

* * *

The trio came across the cabin a few minutes later. It was dilapidated, but large enough for them to stay in for a while if need be. Gwen and LeShawna wanted to continue to stand in amazement of the building, but Duncan shoved the two into a bush, where they were greeted by Trent and Harold.

"Gwen!" Trent said, his green eyes immediately lighting up. "Glad to see you slept well, did you ea-"

"Do we have a plan yet?" Gwen cut him off, sending him a discouraging eyeroll.

"We've been staking the cabin out for exactly two hours and twenty-four minutes." Harold whispered. "We've heard a few things that sounded like voices and saw a human-like figure in the window six minutes ago."

"So there's someone living there?" Duncan asked rather aggressively, dropping the backpack in Trent's lap, causing the boy to suck in air in pain. Duncan didn't notice, and instead looked to Harold intently for answers.

"Most likely, yes. Although it could also be the case of a poltergeist like the one in-" LeShawna suddenly clapped a hand over the redhead's mouth. The others looked at her curiously until she pointed to the small opening that gave them a view of the cabin. There was a creaking noise ringing out in the clearing and suddenly the door flung open. Out stepped a man, no more than thirty, with blonde hair and a relaxed button-down on paired with swim trunks and a longer shirt underneath the button-down. He strode laxly around the building.

"Hey!" Duncan suddenly whispered. "Does he look familiar to anyone else?" The other four squinted at his silhouette, more because they were trying to think.

"Wait a minute! That's not one of Chris' deranged interns is it?" LeShawna said as quietly as she could. Again the other's squinted at the man who seemed to rummaging through a huge shed.

"Oh my gosh!" Gwen gasped. "It's Billy!"

"From Camp Wawanakwa?" Duncan asked her.

"Look!" She ordered him. "The hair is a dead giveaway!" Soon, the other four came to the same realization. LeShawna suddenly stood up.

"Hey yo Billy!" She called. The blonde man whipped his head around and his jaw dropped.

"Shawnie?" He questioned. The others emerged somewhat bashfully and Billy's expression got more shocked, if it were even possible. "Gwen? Trent? Doris? D?" He questioned. "How many more of you are hiding back there?" He had stepped closer and was now helping them out of the bushes.

"It's just us." Gwen said.

"Well, wow." He gasped, looking each of the castaways up and down. "I didn't expect to see you guys all the way out here!"

"Wait? All the way out where?" One questioned, to which Gwen added, "Where are we?"

"You don't know?" Billy laughed. "You're all the way out on the far end of Wawanakwa!" Now it was the five's turn for their jaws to drop.

"W-what?" Duncan stuttered, his hand somehow finding it's way to Gwen's shoulder. She immediately relaxed beneath his palm, a strange sense of comfort warming her body. Billy eyed them for a moment.

"Yeah, you're on the outskirts, you know, the woods." They nodded. "Want me to bring you to the dock or something so you guys can get a ride?" He then asked, taking in their dirty and disheveled appearances.

"I don't think I can walk much more." LeShawna said, pointing to her now tattered leather sandals, torn, dirty, and still a little soggy from their days at sea. The others nodded in agreement, their shoes being in a similar shape. Billy shrugged with a small smile.

"I'll grab the ATV." Cheers rang out as Billy backed out of the shed they had seen him rummaging through earlier atop a big green ATV. The teens eagerly hopped on and held onto each other tight as the vehicle rammed into stubborn tree roots and narrowly dodged trees. (Gwen made sure she was holding onto LeShawna.) Soon, they reached their old campsite and examined it, steeping themselves in memories while Billy made a phone call.

"It's nice to be back, isn't it?" Someone whispered in Gwen's ear, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin.

"Trent!" She whined, "Don't do that." Defensively, she folded her arms over her chest. He placed a hand on her shoulder and although it was gentle, she shrugged it off harshly.

"What's the matter?" He asked her, irritated. She scoffed.

"You! You are the matter! J-just leave me alone! I don't want to hear it, and I don't want you!" She screamed. Immediately, she regretted her harsh words, but for some reason, as Trent sullenly stalked away, it felt to her as if the weight of this whole island was lifted off of her shoulders. Gwen closed her eyes, relishing in the feeling until Billy broke the illusion.

"'Kay, so Chris isn't 'gonna be able to get a boat or anything here til tomorrow. So, in the meantime, you guys can hang out here. Shower and sleep and do whatever the heck else you need to do." He took a whiff of the air. "Just shower!" As Billy walked away, Gwen and LeShawna stepped into their old cabin. Luckily, when they left the island all those months ago the interns were supposed to pack everyone's things and did a pretty crummy job of doing so; the girls had no problem finding at least some of their articles of clothing somewhat cleanly. They showered swiftly using whatever products they happened to find there and then just lounged around as they let the guys have the communal washroom to themselves. While the guys showered, Gwen sat herself at the end of the dock, watching the waves crash into each other. She felt someone plop down next to her and found it was Trent, hair dripping as if he had just hopped out of the ocean.

"Yes, Trent?" She mumbled.

"You love him." He deadpanned, his eyes gleaming with the reflection of the ocean.

"No I don't! Well, I don't know if I-"

"Wasn't a question." He mumbled glumly. She looked at him, puzzled. "I saw it Gwen. When we were out there, and we first though that something was coming to get us, you were mor concerned about it him!"

"I-"

"And then the other night, you looked so happy sleeping next to him. It's-it's frustrating, but you love him." He whispered. She bit her lip, suddenly feeling a whole lot guiltier about her outburst earlier.

"Trent...I'm sorry." She apologized.

"I love you." He responded. He got up from his relaxed position and Gwen stood up instinctively too. They stood there awkwardly before simultaneously pulling one another into a tight hug. They squeezed each other tight for a moment longer. Gwen pecked Trent on the cheek while he did the same. When they pulled away, Trent was gone. Gwen sighed again, plopping herself back down on the dock. Soon she heard footsteps and instead of seeing Trent as she had expected, Duncan was there, his shirt clean.

"Hey." He greeted.

"Hi." She whispered. "You alright?" Man, He still reads her like a book. She sighed and looped one of her fingers through his shoelace as she spoke, her eyes trained on his shoe.

"Me and Trent are officially done with each other." She sighed after a while.

"Good to hear."

"He said he's done chasing after me because he knows I'm in love with you." She said unsurely, biting down hard on lip. She was surprised they hadn't bled yet. Suddenly though, She found her lips covered with Duncan's, and she melted into his arms like putty. He broke away from her all too soon.

"S'a good thing I love you, too, Pasty."

***Um, yeah, maybe I'll write an epilogue, but the way I see it there isn't anything left to write. I am planning a sequel or a companion piece of sorts, inspired by watching the move The Dead Poet's Society in English class. xD But for now, please review this! I'd appreciate it so much, thank you for what you've done so far!***


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